Baltimore has been a cultural hotbed lately but, for once, I'm not talking about The Wire. Bands like Spank Rock, Dan Deacon, and Beach House recorded some of 2007's definitive tracks, and, in a few weeks the last of this Charm City triumvirate will release their sophomore album, Devotion, on Carpark Records. It follows their 2006 self-titled debut which took off online, landing the duo a tour with Grizzly Bear and a number 16 spot on Pitchfork's career-jumpstarting best-of-the-year list (not to mention a spot in the website's annual Chicago fest this past summer).

On their debut, Beach House, comprised of Alex Scully on guitar and keyboard and Victoria Legrand on organ and vocals, managed to fill the ear almost surreptitiously, as the ambling, reverb heavy dream pop (you'll catch Slowdive and Mazzy Star in "Apple Orchard" or "Master of None") brought to mind activities saved for inclement weather, rather than lighthearted associations with the band's name. But on Devotion, boosted by the crisp production that always seems to follow a successful launch, the layered tracks expand of their own volition, elevating their lost love lyrics to almost anthemic levels on first-single "Gila."

Legrand could probably do without all the comparisons to Nico, but they're not likely to abate soon; both imbue songs of heartbreak with a peculiar blend of resignation and good will. Like another one of the band's idols, Brian Wilson, Beach House has mastered the buoyant song about feeling down. --NICHOLAS MOSQUERA   

READ MORE:
Interview with Hunter S. Thompson's former assistant
New York's favorite insouciant rock band, Dean & Britta, enter a new phase

MV STAT: The influential music website Pitchfork was initially called Turntable in 1995. But creator Ryan Schreiber renamed it Pitchfork in homage to Tony Montana's tattoo in Scarface...